Welton Hance, an Elberta resident known to friends as Bud, is a self-professed “child of America."

Though the Pontiac, Mich., native spent his first-grade year in Magnolia Springs, he recalls his family moving throughout the country during his childhood.

When Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941, the 19-year-old Hance, a recent high school graduate in South Dakota, came home from work to find a mobile Marine recruiting unit parked by the curb.

“I went in to see what was going on; they promised me travel and adventure, and they kept their word,” he said.

He signed papers to join the United States Marine Corps on Dec. 10, 1941, and was sent to the naval headquarters in Indianapolis, before being officially sworn into service on Dec. 17, 1941.

“I was 19 years old and the war started and (my service) is just the way things evolved,” Hance said. “It was the nature of the times. I didn't think in terms of ‘I’m going to defend my country.’ I wasn't saying that in my mind. It’s just what had to be done.”

In that moment Hance joined the nation’s call to arms and now, 72 years later, the modest locksmith still bristles at the idea that his generation sacrificed more than any other. As Veterans Day draws closer, Hance likes to remind people that they were just doing what was expected of them.

He was stationed at locations throughout the Pacific before being among the first wave of troops to land on Guadalcanal in August 1942. The First Marine Division landed in a big coconut grove before spreading out into the jungle as part of a defensive move.

“I could see all the big flashes and hear all the booming,” he said of being “shelled” from the ocean on several occasions. “The Navy played a big part in our success. They kept a lot of the reinforcements from getting to us. Some did, but it wasn't too many for us to take.”

Nearly five months later, Hance’s troop moved to New Britain, the largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago in Papua New Guinea, which he described as “a muddy, rainy mess.” But his final station, in Peleliu – now known as Palau – would present a whole different picture.

“We landed against an enemy who had been digging for 30 years, building concrete bunkers and caves,” he said, of the little island. “It was a small area for a lot of people. I joke that we looked like a bunch of tomcats in a barrel.”

The Battle of Peleliu, fought from September-November 1944, had the highest casualty rate of World War II.

“It was fast and furious and 24 hours a day, and it was dry and you couldn’t get enough to drink,” Hance said, who served on the island until he was wounded. "I don't relive this kind of stuff, I don't have (PTSD). I have memories."

When the solider was discharged in 1945, he made a decision that would eventually put him back in the line of fire. “I just signed up for the reserves and went on about my life,” he said.

Living then in South Dakota, where there were no reserve units, Hance was given an inactive status. But in 1950, duty called again.

“When the Korean War started they sent me a letter inviting me to go to Korea and I thought, ‘well, here's another chance to get on that cruise ship,’” he said.

Back home again in the mid-1950s, Hance resumed his career making neon for signs and dabbling in other professions. Twenty-eight years ago he moved to south Alabama, and when he finally hit age 65, his family convinced him to retire. But the ever-busy Hance could only handle retirement for eight years.

“I'm not going to sit down someplace, let the grass grow between my toes,” he said.

So 14 years ago he went looking for work at Lowe’s.

“They put me in the hardware department after the first couple of months and I got interested in these door locks,” he said pointing at Wilma, his bride of almost six years, who took locksmith courses along with him. “So according to the paperwork, I'm a certified locksmith, at least for doors which is what I do a lot. I think I can safely say I’m good at it.”

Hance attributes his longevity to his perpetually curious nature.

“I’m a firm believer in the power of the mind,” he said. “It’s all about your mental attitude. You can face bad situations - sure it’s bad, you have to accept it as bad. But so many times how you approach the bad will change everything.”

But he scoffs at the idea that he’s a member of the greatest generation.

“I’m satisfied that I did my duty,” Hance said. “You could say that I’m proud of it, yeah, but there were over 14 million of us in the service, over 700,000 that got killed. I survived with only minor hurts. I can’t set myself up as some great example. I was just one of the peas in the pod at the time.”